Child dies after found unresponsive in ship's pool

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

A 4-year-old child died after being pulled unresponsive from a swimming pool on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship off the coast of North Carolina on Monday, cruise line and Coast Guard officials said. Crew members were able to revive a 6-year-old boy also found in the pool. He was airlifted to a hospital, where his condition was unknown.

The two children were found in the morning on the Norwegian Breakaway, the cruise line said in an announcement on its Facebook page. The statement did not give the ages of the children, but Coast Guard Petty Officer Adam SanSoucie said they were 4 and 6.

An emergency medical team on the ship gave both children CPR, but the younger child died, the cruise line's statement said. The older child, a boy, was airlifted with his grandmother and a nurse to a hospital, the company said. It did not identify the gender of the younger child.

SanSoucie said the boy was taken by Marine rescue helicopter to Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City, N.C. A hospital spokesman did not immediately return a telephone call seeking an update on his condition.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the family during this extremely difficult time and are providing full assistance and support," the cruise line said in its Facebook statement. "The family is in our thoughts and prayers and we ask that you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as well."

It was unclear where the ship was headed. The Norwegian Cruise Line website describes the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway as the "newest and largest ship embarking from NYC" to winter destinations including the Southern Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida.